Fantails or Ryukin?

I want to turn my 37 gallon tank into a goldfish tank. I was thinking of getting 3 fancy goldfish for it. That would work, right? Once they get super huge I have a 46 bowfront I will move them to. Right now as babies they'll be living with 6 leopard danios, which don't mind cooler temps. Ultimately it will just be the three fancies, and I will never put them in my pond. So looking online, I see some sites selling fantails, as well as ryukins, and **************** has fantail ryukins. What?? So now I am really confused. They aren't really the same, are they? What is the difference? Which should I choose, or should I go with "fantail ryukin". I want three different varieties of fancy goldfish, but not the slower-moving bubble eyes etc. I'm looking at the smallest possible types that supposedly reach 8". So I'm still shopping, and now I see on petsolutions.com they have calico orandas for 4.99, and calico ryukins for 5.99. So I looked at the scientific names for them both, and they are both listed as carassius auratus. Or does that just mean "goldfish". I just can't tell the difference between them, they look the same. It is very confusing. :shakehead:

Every square is a rectangle. Not every rectangle is a square. Every Ryukin is a Fantail. Not every Fantail is a Ryukin. Fantail refers strictly to a long double tail, to be a Ryukin has other requirements, most specifically a dorsal fin and no cottage cheese on its head.

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Thanks for commenting! I did spend a lot of time researching goldfish online. I learned about the hump on ryukins heads. I ended up buying a very young red and white ryukin from Petco, and I've placed an online order for a fantail and a panda butterfly telescope. They are out of the pandas, but hopefully getting a shipment tomorrow. I'm a little worried about the ryukin, I've had him a week and yesterday he developed a tiny lump at the base of his tail fins. Not red or anything, just swollen, and acting normal otherwise. Anyway, I've gone ahead with getting fancy goldfish. Eventually I might need a larger tank than 46 gallons, but my oldest kids will be out of college in a couple of years and I'll have more space.

What a beautiful goldie! Mine actually has similar coloring. How old is yours? How many do you have, and in what size tank? I just took a quick pic of mine in a 10 gallon quarantine tank, sorry it's a little blurry. He won't always be with blue gravel, lol. He's still quite small, but already ripping up the plants.

I just wanted to stop in and leave an opinion for ya...I don't reccomend ordering from ****************. I don't know if you were considering this, but I noticed their name in your post and wanted to give you my feedback. If you look on their shipping info, they clearly state "attention worrywarts, we will NEVER ship without emailing you" so that you can be available to pick up your fish. My order was supposed to ship on a Thursday and arrive on a Friday, but I never received an email. I emailed them to find out my order status...no reply. I was home all day Friday and when I was leaving for work, I opened the door to a sopping wet box on the front porch. My heart, of course, dropped and I rushed the poor fish inside.

There was no time for acclimation, as all but one bag of fish had leaked and the fish were all gasping for air. One fish had already expired, as the water had completely leaked from his bag. Two bags were put in the box upside down!! Luckily, all fish are doing great, besides the one that was DOA. I didn't bother emailing or calling regarding the fish loss, as I don't expect I would receive a reply anyway. My one positive for them, however, is that the fish they sent were very healthy and larger than expected.

I do, however, reccomend LiveAquaria.com. I have used them twice with great results. They ship in containers that secure the fish so they don't get tossed around too much. They seem to pack the fish with care. The other place seems to have just thrown the fish in the box and sealed them up. I did experience fish loss with liveaquaria.com on the second day with fish. I called them, they answered right away and credited my account right away. All in all a great experience with them. The negative (potentially) all of the fish I was sent were very young. The panda cories I lost were less than an inch in length and did not do well in the shipping process.

Finally, if you are planning on getting several fantails, why not go with variety? My goldfish tank has many different colors and variations. They all get along great and look stunning. Good luck with your fish!!

Thanks for the tip! What a horrible story, exactly the sort of thing I worried about. I ordered from **************** once before with no issues. I actually canceled my order yesterday with them yesterday though, they said they still hadn't received any new shipments. I actually am looking for variety, I even told them that's what I wanted, but they just simply stated they had no new shipments. Sooo, I said cancel the order, but I have yet to hear back from them. My paypal account hasn't been credited, either! I did go ahead and order a black butterfly and a calico fantail from Petsolutions.com yesterday. I didn't use liveaquaria because they didn't have any butterfly goldfish, which I really wanted. I am supposed to get the shipment Thursday....

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